Fat Ed’s Furry F*cking Guide To Metal!!!!
Strong language warning!
Also there’s a very stong chance that the beverage you are drinking will spew out your nose.
Existentialism and the Art Of Lawn Maintenance
Back in the early 90’s I was living with my good friends John Williams and Jay Fleming in what we affectionately called The Triple “J” Ranch, a house in the Heights on Arlington Street.
Right before the 1992 Republican National Convention John and Jay concocted this idea of going to a warehouse/coffee shop known as Downtown Grounds for poetry night and presenting Jay Fleming as Jay Fontaine – Industrial Poet with John paying the part of his manager from New York.
What ensued was pure performance art genius. The regulars for poetry night ate Jay’s performance up with a spoon, not realizing they were being “had” and believing they were witnessing some kind of outsider poetry/art.
Now, years later, I find the performance on Youtube and people are comparing Jay to a cross between Slingblade and John Candy. That just about sums it up. See for yourself.
Initial Impressions
So far, the Sony Alpha 700 is a joy to use. It’s responsive, ergonomic and very light-weight. The menus are logical and the important features are easily accessible. I still have a bit to sort out, but I am loving it!
And the 11-17mm wide angle has changed the way I look at portraiture.
Cheers!
Walking through the art cars prior to the parade Bill Shirley and I stumbled upon members of the Foam Rangers and were given hand-canned beer. I forget the name, but it was VERY tasty! Thanks Sean! And thanks Tom for the photo!
Virgin Of Guadalupe
Cynthia has created for me a new shirt from a design I came up with. This one is called the Virgin of Guadalupe. It was inspired by the Jesse Trevino mosaic I saw while in San Antonio.
She’s so crafty! Thank you Cynthia!
How interesting
My camera comes with a wireless remote control…
Can Has New Camera
During the process of acquiring the new wide-angle lens I went ahead and fondled the Sony Alpha 700 just to see what I thought. While this was happening Charlie at the Camera Exchange noticed that Sony was offering an instant rebate of $150 for the lens I wanted if purchased with a new Alpha 700. Well this pretty much cinched the deal for me. I mean it was obviously a sign. I told him “let’s do it, ring me up!”
Charlie disappeared to the back room and after awhile we began to wonder where he was. After awhile he came back and told me he was sorry, but the promotion ended on the 31st of April. He’ spoken to his manager and there was nothing they could do.
Well damn it.
During the time he was in the back I had already embraced the idea that I would own this camera. I told Charlie to hold on to it and we’d come back after the Art Car Parade and I would purchase it rebate or no rebate.
Off to the Art Car parade to play with my new wide angle lens and mentally debate the new camera in the process.
I thought about it and really, there was no debate. The A700 was the best choice even before I dropped the pretty penny on the wide angle.
See here in a side by side comparison, it holds it’s own with the Nikon D300 and the Canon 40D
Side by side feature comparison of the A700, 40D and the D300
The 3 inch LCD, 5 frames per second and 12 megapixel CMOS sensor (basically the same sensor as the D300) make it a strong competitor to the Nikon for several hundred dollars less before adding in the lens replacement costs.
And as far as the Canon is concerned, the Sony seems to actually exceed it in features and capability.
After only using it for a day I find the controls extremely intuitive and easy to use.
The high ISO capability and the low noise make this a fantastic camera for the money and perfectly suitable for my purposes.